Fridays

Some days I don't ride to work.  I try to keep these days as few and far between as possible - if I need to carry a large (or food) item, torrential downpours that drown small children, etc.

Fridays are my bouldering day.  Bouldering is like rock climbing, only without the harness, and you're usually inverted, and you also usually get your ass kicked by these small, seemingly harmless colored rocks.  

I enjoy bouldering because it changes things up a bit.  I've been running and cycling for a long time, so my thighs are massive muscle machines that can break bones and my gastrocnemiuses could consume small animals.  It's nice to have something that actually works my upper body for a change, and requires a completely different mindset than cycling does.  Mostly, it makes me grateful that I am a good, in shape cyclist.  Bouldering humbles me and makes me grateful that I am a beast on a bike.

I don't ride to the bouldering gym because it involves going on one suicidally busy street during rush hour in LA to another suicidally busy street, then going into a rather terrible part of town.  After that, my hands and arms are usually too dead to do much, so gripping the handlebars and braking is out of the question.  Someday I'm going to figure out a solution to this.  

On that note, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.  If it's unseasonably nice, go for a ride!  

2012 Mileage Count: 98